Unfamiliar Roles
by beyourownstar
Summary: Set after Emma and Snow get back to Storybrooke. Emma has never been the roommate type, now she finds herself living with not one, but three roommates. Living with her family, being a mother and a daughter, is turning about to be a bigger adjustment than Emma anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Unfamiliar Roles

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Once Upon A Time

**Summary:** Set after Emma and Snow get back to Storybrooke. Emma has never been the roommate type, now she finds herself living with not one, but three roommates. Living with her family, being a mother and a daughter, is turning about to be a bigger adjustment than Emma anticipated.

**AN:** I recently got bitten by the Once Upon a Time bug and this is my first attempt at a fic. It's going to be mostly fluff with some angst and about Emma and how she adjusts to the new roles in her life. Because this is my first Once fic the chapters will start off short but hopefully as I get the hang of writing these characters they will be longer.

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**Unfamiliar Roles**

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She wakes up to the sound of high-pitched laughter, followed by her mother telling the boys in a hushed whisper, that they will wake Emma up. One of the problems with living in a loft, with three other people no less, is the utter lack of any kind of privacy. Emma stifles a yawn as she stretches in bed, for someone who claimed to have never been the roommate kind, she suddenly finds herself sharing not with one roommate, but _three_. Emma rolls over in bed, groaning when one of Henry's handheld games (a gift from his Gramps) pokes her in the stomach.

It's been a week since she and Snow have been back from the other realm and everyone is still adjusting to the know dynamics that is their lives. Currently, Henry is sharing a room with Emma, and she knows it's not ideal and she _should_ get a place for both of them, but she doesn't think Henry is ready for another change so quickly. If she's honest with herself _she's_ not ready for that change yet. With Regina still out there and unpredictable, Emma prefers that, Henry is under the same roof as her parents. Her parents, that's another thing Emma is still adjusting too, while Emma and Snow have come to an understanding, or at least Emma has accepted her mother. Things with her father are still awkward at best.

Emma yawns, wondering if she can just bury herself under the blankets for a few more hours, but she has a kid now, she has responsibilities, and while her parents are more than happy to entertain Henry. She can't avoid her family forever. With a sigh she slips out of the bed, her bare feet hitting the wooden floor of her loft bedroom, the wood creaking slightly.

She grins when she hears Henry pester her parents to sword fight. The little wooden swords James bought him, have since seen better days.

"I do not agree with your grandfather's need to teach you how to sword fight, Henry." Snow voices travels throughout the small apartment, "I'm not going to encourage it by fighting him."

"Your grandmother just doesn't think she can take me." James chimes in, and Emma snorts at the deliberate antagonizing tone he takes. If she's learned anything about her mother in the past two months is that she is even more stubborn than Emma, and _never_backs down from a fight.

Sure enough as Emma makes her way down the stairs she sees the three of them standing in the small living area and Snow grabs a wooden sword from James, with ease a glint in her eyes, "Really, Charming? Are you willing to embarrass yourself in front of your only grandson?"

Henry giggles in excitement already moving the chairs around them out of the way to give the two space, "Gramps, I thought you said Grandma didn't know how to sword fight."

Emma snorts at the appalled expression on her mother's face and James looks at Henry in alarm. Clearly, Henry did not realize that was a conversation meant to stay between the two boys.

"Did he now?" Snow asks looking at her husband with narrowed eyes, "Well your _majesty_ lets show the young prince how it's done then."

James eyes twinkle in merit at her tone and bows in front of Snow, "At your service your _highness_."

Emma rolls her eyes, she shouldn't even be surprised the verbal sparing match between the two turned into some kind of flirting ritual. It's been one week since they have been back, and Emma is slowly realizing how sickeningly _sweet_ her parents can truly be. She makes her presence known as she walks down the rest of the stairs, before things can escalate.

"Hey, hey. Kids in the room." She teases, knowing her comment will go right over her son's head, but the pink tint on her mother's fair skin, shows she got her point across.

"Emma! Come watch!" Henry says excitedly, running the few steps towards her to tug her by the hand in front of her parents, "Grandma is going to kick Gramps butt in sword fighting."

"Henry!" James says in shock, "I thought you were on my side kid?"

Emma and Snow laugh, as Snow looks at James pointedly her eyes twinkling, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"The two of you make it a habit to physically fighting each other?" Emma asks slightly alarmed, and she's hoping to put off this sword fight, she's seen Henry and James in action, the sword fights always seem to get out of hand and something always ends up breaking.

Before either could answer, Henry is the one that speaks up, his tone of disbelief that Emma is even asking, _"Emma_, Grandma gave him that scar on his chin. She threw a rock at him after he threw her off the horse. I can't believe you still haven't read the book."

Emma looks at him sheepishly, while her parents smile at her expense, she's getting reprimanded by her 10 year old. Snow though steps in putting a hand on Henry's shoulder, "Well how about we have breakfast and your grandfather and I will tell you all about how we met. That book left out a lot of things."

"Really?" Henry perks up in excitement, looking between the two, "You didn't fight the trolls then?"

"Oh we did." James says with amusement, ruffling the boy's hair "But there is more to it."

"Okay, before story time. You, kid, need to brush your teeth." Emma says pointedly.

"I did." Henry insists

Emma looks at her son in the eye, and holds back a smile when he groans and walks towards the bathroom, grumbling about it not being fair that she has superpowers. The adults laugh wholeheartedly at his antics.

James takes the wooden sword from Snow's hand and goes to reorganize the living room, while Emma and Snow head to the kitchen, "You're doing great you know."

Emma looks up at her mother curiously, who smiles knowingly and she sighs, "When I went about trying to get custody of him, before all this happened. I was only thinking about one thing, and that was getting him away from that _woman_. Now that he's here I…."

Snow immediately takes Emma's hand and squeezes it reassuringly, "You're doing your best, that's all Henry needs. You're great with him, Emma."

Emma sighs, squeezing her mother's hand before she releases it, "I'm out of my element, and normally my first instinct is to run, but he's my kid and I _can't_. Not that I want to anyway…it's just overwhelming."

"I think we're all trying to find our way." Snow says thoughtfully as she goes to the fridge, "Charming and Henry have set up a routine for the past two month and now the two of us are just trying to fit into it. It's going to take time, but soon you'll think back and wonder how your life was any different, you'll see."

Emma nods, knowing that her mother is right, sometimes she forgets that her parents are learning how to be parents just as much as she is, and she's trying to figure out how to be a daughter just as much.

"These things take time, Emma." Snow promises, "Now, how about you make some hot chocolate for us while I prepare breakfast?"

Emma slips out of the stool, smiling at James who slips into the kitchen, and wordlessly begins to help her mother with preparing breakfast, both of them working seamlessly in the tiny kitchen, almost like they have been doing it for years. Maybe her mother is right.

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I know its short, but as I said I'm still trying things out.

what do you guys think? Worth continuing?


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh WOW, the response to this story was INSANE. Thank you all SO much for enjoying this and your words of encouragement. I've decided to make this story a series of one shots, various moments in Emma's life interacting with her family, and other people as well, but its going to be focused mainly on the Charming family. If there is anything you would like me to write about, I'm more than happy to take request, I'm sure there a many little things people will like to see, that we probably won't get to see on the show, so I'm up for suggestions :)**

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She walks into empty apartment, sighing in relief when she toes off her boots, putting it between Henry's small sneakers and James much larger ones. With a yawn, Emma slips out of her coat hanging it on the coat rack. The apartment is in silence, and for the first time in weeks she's home alone. Emma breathes in deeply soaking up the sheer silence of the room, almost thankful that her mother mentioned taking Henry to Granny's after school and James offered to close up the sheriff's office for her.

So now she has the house to herself and Emma just wants to sit on the couch and enjoy the silence for a few moments. This past week has been even more hectic than normal, James getting her up to speed on all the things happening the past few months, the reality that she's now responsible for a 10 year old boy and although, the usual sparring with Regina is nonexistent, Emma can't help but feel unease at the total lack of contact from the other woman. She knows James said Regina was giving Henry his space, but the woman was never one for her word. Emma stretches out on the couch yawning lightly, she should be doing something productive, like cleaning her and Henry's room (who knew a 10 year old could have so much crap?) but all she wanted to do was rest. Emma's eyes were just about to flutter closed when the front door slammed open unexpectedly, and she groans, her silent solitude shattered.

"Henry, your boots!" Snow calls out with a slight edge to it, at her mother's tone, Emma sits up curiously, watching as her son, looks at Emma sheepishly, as he hurriedly toes off his boots, the melted snow gathering on the floor, he drops his school bag at the door, along with his mittens. But before either woman can reprimand him for that, he goes running to the back of the kitchen, towards the bathroom, calling out that he really needs to go.

"Henry!" Both Snow and Emma call out at the same time, the bathroom door slams shut.

Snow sighs, shaking out her own hat and coat, while picking up Henry's forgotten stuff. Emma looks at her mother with concern, its obvious Snow has had better days, "Everything okay?"

"Twenty screaming children, locked inside because of the small blizzard and I forgot how much energy 10 year olds have, _especially_ after having two cups of hot chocolate." Snow says tiredly as she flops down on the sofa next to Emma, "That and usually, after they have their quota of sugar, once 3 o'clock hits, I don't have to deal with the aftermath of it."

"_Two_ cups?" Emma says incredulously.

Snow shrugs sheepishly, "It was a small cup, I didn't see the harm in it, _then_."

"What did you guys do then? He looks like he literally bounced all the way here." Emma says, eyeing the bathroom door wearily, she's still getting used to living with a 10 year old.

Don't get her wrong, she _loves_ her son, and would go to the end of the earth for him, but the last time she's been in the company of a ten year old for more than a few hours a day was when she _was_ ten. Suffice to say she's still adjusting to some of the quirks of having a 10 year old.

"He wanted to see his horse, but its too cold out for him to be at the stables." Snow says matter-of-factly, she releases a small yawn, just as the door to the bathroom opened, "So we walked home from Granny's."

Henry came running through the small room, skidding in his socks as he plopped in the middle of Emma and Snow, as he looks across at his grandmother, "But Grandma, its not even snowing anymore."

"I think your boots tell a different story kid." Emma chimes in, already seeing the exhaustion filter across her mother's features, it looks like she's not the only one to have had a long day.

Henry grins sheepishly as he shifts his body to lay his head on Emma's shoulder looking up at her curiously, Emma can tell that the sugar is still buzzing through his system by the way his feet keep hitting against the small coffee table in front of them, like he just can't sit still for a moment ,"Did you fight any dragons today?"

Emma laughs, knowing he's teasing, but also part of him actually wishes something "exciting" like that would happen. Despite how scary her and Snow's journey in the other world was, Henry still seems pretty disappointed at the fact that he hasn't gotten to see a _real_ castle yet.

"You don't think one dragon, a giant and that evil woman wasn't cool enough?" Emma jokes, seeing the twinkle in Henry's eyes and she knows she's about to tell the tail of the dragon once again.

"I wanna learn how to fight a dragon." Henry says despondently.

Emma looks over her son's head at her mother, who has her own tilted towards them and is smiling despite her exhaustion. She pats Henry's leg halfheartedly, "I think this family has seen enough mythical creatures to last us a long, _long_ time."

"But it would be so cool!" Henry insists sitting up, so he can face his grandmother, "You think Gramps would let me learn to fight with a _real_ sword?"

"No!" Both Emma and Snow say simultaneously, Emma ruffles Henry's hair affectionately, "How about you stick to those wooden swords till your older."

Henry pouts, but instead of protesting, her turns back to his grandmother, poking her in the side, when he notices she now has her eyes closed, "Grandma."

"She's sleeping." Snow whispers, her eyes still shut, Emma bites her lip in amusement, watching as Henry rolls his eyes and proceeds to poke Snow continuously, until the older woman opens one of her eyes peering up at Henry questioningly.

"Can you teach me how to me how to use a bow an arrow?" On seeing his grandmother's apprehensive expression, he quickly continues, "Not like a real one, we can get those rubber arrows in the toy store."

"I'd love to Henry but you have to promise…."But she trails off when the front door slams open, all three of them turn towards the sound.

Snow sitting up in alert when no one came through, Emma puts her hand over Henry, watching the door as well, but immediately relaxes when she hears James voice. Everyone is still on edge, especially since Gold and Regina both have gone missing. James finally walks into small apartment, a balancing two bags in one hand, while the other grasps what looks to be napkins as well as another bag.

"I bought dinner." He's says cheerily, not even sounding a bit frazzled as he looks.

"Gramps!" Henry calls out excitedly, leaping off of the chair, and swiping his forgotten wooden sword, "Grandma said she'd teach me how to use a bow and arrow."

Before James can comment though, Henry runs towards hi grandfather his sword pointing at him, "En garde!"

"Henry no!" Emma calls out, watching in horror as the bags of food get thrown in the air, James swiping the sword from Henry with ease, and catching the bags simultaneously in the crook of his arm, as he points the tip of the sword to Henry's chest.

James is grinning with merit, as Henry pouts despondently, "You nearly had me there kid, good try though."

"Next time remember not to warn him. It defeats the purpose of the element of surprise." Snow says helpfully, smiling at the two brightly.

Emma looks at the three in disbelief, her son just tried to ambush her father, and her parents are just giving him pointers on how to do it better _next_ time. "No, no. New rule, no sword fighting in house. Kid you don't attack your grandfather, with a sword, especially if he doesn't know."

Snow looks at Emma in amusement, but says nothing, as James chuckles, putting the food on the kitchen island, "It's okay Emma. Trust me I've battled far things worse than a 10 year old, while holding dinner. I've held far more precious things than tonight's dinner, while fighting."

At his words, Emma cheeks redden in embarrassment, unsure how she's suppose to respond to that. She knows that he's referring to _her_ as the precious thing he speaks of. Her mother, ever the attentive one smiles but quickly intervenes.

"Emma's right, no sword fighting in the apartment, this place is small enough as it is, we don't need any injuries." She laughs when Henry pouts, ruffling her hair as she passes by him, to give James a brief kiss in greeting before she continues, "But, you and I, will look to see if there are any arrows in the store, I'll teach you how to make your own bow though."

"Really?" Henry asks excitedly, literally bouncing around his grandmother.

Emma grins, hot cocoa aside, she doesn't think she's _ever_ seen Henry this happy since she's moved to Storybrooke, and a small part of her is so grateful to her parents, for helping in making her kid so happy. "What's with the fascination in learning all these things kid? I really don't think you'll need it in Maine."

"I wanna know where I'm from." Henry says as he slips on one of the stools at the island, spinning around, to talk to Emma's parents who are standing in the kitchen, getting out the utensils for dinner, and Emma who is still sitting on the couch, "And when we go back, I'll be prepared."

At his words Emma exchanges a look with Snow and James, she gets off the couch and moves to stand in front of Henry, "Henry, we aren't going back to the Enchanted forest. There is nothing to go back too."

Henry looks at her crestfallen, and the turns around to look at James and Snow, "But I thought you guys were going to go back and rebuild the kingdom? Like you did before?"

"Sweetie, it's a little bit more complicated than that," Snows says, "We have still have to figure out why no one can leave Storybrooke, before we can send the entire kingdom back. Magic is…"

"Unpredictable here. I know, I just thought it would be cool to live in a castle." Henry said sadly.

Emma frowns watching as his shoulders slump and he rests his cheek on the counter, his eyes closed, "Well, we might not be living in castle for a while. How about tomorrow, you introduce me to this horse of yours?"

"Really?" Henry says perking up, "Cool, maybe with you there, he'll _finally_ let me ride him."

"We can see." Emma says with a smile, ruffling Henry's hair, "Now go pick up your mittens and coat off the floor and put your school bag away."

Henry groans, but slides off the stool nonetheless and quickly gather his things and heads up the stairs, dragging his feet as he goes. Emma rolls her eyes all too use to the dramatics, seeing as she's learned it's a daily occurrence with Henry, "Don't forget to change out of your uniform."

She doesn't get a response, but she knows he heard, she looks back at her parents to see Snow smirking at her, "You picked up the nagging parent role, quickly."

"I learned from the best." Emma teases, causing Snow to laugh.

"Fair enough." Snow says warmly, not at all deterred by Emma's comment, she places grabs a nearby spoon, and begins dishing out the rice and looks at Emma curiously, "Would you be so against the idea of going back to the Enchanted Forest?"

Emma bites her lips in thought, "I never thought it was an option, do you guys think it is?"

Snow and James share a look, and Emma is still in amazement at their ability to carry out entire conversations without saying a word, and James looks at her seriously, "Our goal, is to figure out how to break the bond that forces everyone to remain here, and we have no idea what that entails. None of us belong here, so there may be a slight chance that once that bond is broken, we might all be sent back. No one truly knows how all this works."

"Are you okay, with that possibility?" Snow asks, looking at her closely, "Living in the our castle, granted it has a _lot_ of work that needs to be done."

"Honestly, the thought never entered my mind, from the moment _we_ ended up in that world, or sole purpose was to get _out_. To live there, never seemed like an option. I mean sure I thought about it when we went to the castle, but you know shape shifting evil witches were kind of distracting."

"Emma." Snow calls out, seeing right through Emma's tactic to avoid the question.

Emma shrugs sheepishly, "I really don't know, but I just know that, where the three of you go, that's where I'm going. So be it Maine, the Enchanted Forest, hell the freaking Bahamas that's where I'll be."

Emma's beam at her words, and she shifts uncomfortably at their stares, knowing how much they needed to hear that, but she sighs in relief when she hears the light footsteps coming from the stairs indicating Henry was back. For the first time in her life, she has to factor in other people's opinions on making decisions in her life, and surprisingly she finds herself okay with it, it was never a doubt in her mind she wouldn't be where her family is, and she finds herself welcoming this new way of thinking and making decisions. For once in her life she's not alone, and she has three other people who will be there with her every step of the way, and Emma finds herself embracing this more and more.

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**Someone asked if I will be bringing in Neal, and yes that's my plan, but right now I'm hoping to focus on Emma with her parents and Henry, is there anything in particular you would like to see next?**


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